


The best of you

by PeggyCarters



Category: Shefani, The Voice (US) RPF
Genre: AU, Blake Shelton - Freeform, F/M, Gwen Stefani - Freeform, Shefani - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-02-22 16:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeggyCarters/pseuds/PeggyCarters
Summary: [AU] When someone calls saying that she's been invited to perform with a country star at the CMA she thinks she's been pranked but what she doesn't realize is that it may the turning point in her life.





	1. Broken but fine

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic comes out of Hunter Hayes' Rescue "The mess of me will always need the best of you". 
> 
>  
> 
> This idea has been running around in my head for a while so I decided to write it down.  
> Buckle up this is going to get angsty. 
> 
> Also, Tim McGraw makes an appearance, but he's just the reason that this story starts, nothing more :) 
> 
> Thank you to my Brazilian babes, Lola and Jo, for the support and letting me ramble about this story haha Love you both! :)

October 2015

 

Today was one of those days in which she didn’t see the point of getting out of bed. She was alone in her LA home and the sun was just starting to peek through the curtains. If she had any energy left she would scream but she did that once in a similar situation and she swears she had heard her voice echo. She had never felt more alone.

Next to only seeing her babies two weeks each month, turning to face the other side of the king-sized bed and finding it empty is the hardest thing. She closes her eyes and then finally turns to look at the ceiling as she sighs and lets a tear run free. She doesn’t know why she’s crying; he doesn’t deserve her tears. He doesn’t even deserve to occupy her mind, so trying her best to put him behind even if it’s just for a few minutes, she reaches out for her phone and turns it on. She rolls her eyes when messages start to come through, some emails and even a missed call. She sighs and puts the phone aside. She needs a latte before facing the world.

 

She puts on a hoodie and grabs her sleepers before she makes her way downstairs to the kitchen where she prepares her morning coffee like she was making an art piece.

“The day begins after a cup of coffee.” She says to herself as she pours milk into a small recipient and then heats it up on the microwave as the coffee boils on the stove. Looking around, her eyes fall on the crystal door leading to the garden. She smiles as she recalls how Zuma and Kingston had been playing with Apollo last afternoon before she had to go drop them at their father’s house. That had been hard. It hadn’t been the first, nor second time, but it was still hard.

Today’s Monday, the first day of a long ass week that she really didn’t feel like she was ready for. Everything felt so heavy lately. It's hard to carry on when everything she wants to do is lay on her bed and hide away from the world. Luckily, though, she has things to do to keep her mind occupied. She had called her assistant the week before and had told her to keep her busy this week. She didn’t want to be alone in a big house, she needed to move and do things. That’s why she has a photo shoot today and a meeting with some designer in the afternoon. Closing the day, she has family dinner with her parents. They have been immensely supportive, to the point that it had been a little too much at times but Gwen still put on a smile because she knew how they did everything in their power to make her feel comfortable and loved.  

 

It had been two months since she had gotten divorced. A month and a bit more since it had hit the newsstands and that exact same time since she had been hiding from the media. She didn’t go out, she tried to keep a quiet life because she knew she wasn’t ready for divorced questions. She had been in a somewhat shutdown from the world in which only her family existed. She put on a smile for them, for her kids mostly, because they deserve the world and their mother. They need her. As much as it hurt, she had to be strong for them and be their anchor. What she was starting to realize was that they were that same anchor for her. That’s why she felt so lonely and lost in the sea when they weren’t around.

 

Halloween was approaching and even though it killed her to not have the kids this week, she was going to spend Halloween with them. She loved everything about that particular day and she had a lot of ideas in her mind to make that day more special than ever. She deserved the fun and so did them. As she opens the door of her house, after getting some shopping done at the mall, her phone goes off and she is forced to put the bags down on the nearest surface before she misses the call.

“Hi, hi.” She says a little out of breath.

“Gwen, are you okay?” She nods to herself when she hears her manager’s voice at the other side of the line, “are you nodding?”

Gwen lets out a laugh and then leans her body against the nearest wall, “Yes, sorry. I’m okay. What’s up?”

Her manager sighs, “I’m about ten minutes away from your house, are you there? Can I come?”

“Sure yeah. I just got here.”

 

They hang up and before a smiley Irving appears through the door, Gwen puts all the groceries away and prepares some coffee for both of them. They make their way outside the patio and then is when Gwen starts to get nervous because Irving does not just stop by.

“I want you to hear me out okay?” He begins, “I think this is a good idea as weird as it may sound.”

“Jesus Christ Irving...” Gwen sighs covering her face.

“No, no it’s good. Listen.” He moves his chair closer to Gwen and she feels the nerves take over her body. “You should step out, face the world, and I’ve found the perfect place to do so.”

“I’m getting a weird feeling because of this,” Gwen comments putting her steamy cup of coffee down on the wooden table.

Irving chuckles, “CMAs.”

“What?” Gwen frowns and shakes her head. “What’s that?”

The older man full on laughs then, “I knew you’d say that.” Irving smiles at her as Gwen continues to not understand what’s going on. “Country Music Association Awards.” He wishes he could have recorded the expression on her face when he explained what CMA stood for.

“And?” Gwen shrugs and frowns again as she leans back in the chair.

“They have called me because they want you to sing with a country star.”

Gwen doesn’t know how to react to that. Part of her wants to laugh out loud because that’s one of the craziest things she has heard in the last few months, and that’s a lot coming from the situation she’s been through. She decides to just snort and look curiously at Irving as she bites the inside of her cheek. “What?” She crosses her arms over her chest and leans over the table as she closes her eyes and softly shakes her head. “Is this some kind of prank?” She presses her lips together when Irving stays quiet and very professional.

“Listen to me, sweetheart,” there is the fatherly voice that has saved her so many times. Hearing that tone, Gwen realizes that this is serious and if he came all the way to her house it’s because he thinks it’s a good opportunity. “You’ve been feeling better lately, right?” Gwen pulls off a small smile and a nod, “Good, that’s fantastic.” The manager pulls his chair closer to Gwen’s before he continues, “It really is not a necessity _but_ you’re going to have to step out again soon. You’re talking about a new song you recorded recently and the potential it may have to be a single. You’re going to have to set up interviews and maybe a couple of TV appearances. There’s going to be questions and I don’t want them to come at you all at once so I found the perfect place to step out in the open and that is the CMAs.” Irving takes a deep breath and stares at Gwen as she processes the information. She scratches the side of her face nervously and bites down her lower lip. “Each year they invite one or two artists that have no connection whatsoever to country music to perform with a well-known country music star.”

“And they want me?” Gwen asks quietly. “Why?”

The older guy lets out an ironic laugh. It amazes him how sometimes Gwen forgets who she is and how admired and respected she is in the music industry and everywhere in general. “They want you.” Irving assures her, “This will not only give you the opportunity to step out in the open in a place where you will not be the centre of attention, but it can also open the door to new people that would potentially want to hear your music.”

“You think this is a good idea?”

Irving takes a second and then grabs Gwen’s hand, “I do. You don’t even have to walk the red carpet if you don’t want to. This is an incredible opportunity and the person they want you to sing you with isn’t bad either.”

“Who is it?”

“Remember when I tried to get you on The Voice?” Gwen nods sadly and her smile fades. She had wanted to be on that show so much because she not only believed she could be of great help but also be inspired by many other artists. Christina Aguilera had wanted a break and she was going to step in in her place, but the powerful singer had decided to stay. “Well, the country star on the panel wants to sing with you.”

Gwen’s eyes widen, “Tim McGraw?”

“That’s probably the only name you know of the country community, huh?” Irving chuckles as Gwen blushes of embarrassment. “That’s the one. He was actually a bit sad that you couldn’t join the show last year.”

“Really?” She’s a bit surprised by all of this. “But what are we going to sing? I don’t know how to sing country music and I don’t know any country song. This is stupid!” She doesn’t raise her voice but she huffs and stands up from the chair to pace the floor for a few seconds before she turns back around to face her manager, who is curiously studying her.

“I know that look.” He begins, “There is nothing to be insecure about. You are invited to go because they want you there. And yes, it sounds a bit off but Gwen, this shows how much they respect you as an artist and your genre of music. I would embrace this opportunity.”

Gwen stands behind her chair as she bounces on her feet, “I just... I don’t know, Irving.” She sighs loudly and covers her face with her hands.

“You can do it, you know?” Gwen uncovers her features and slowly lifts her head up to meet her manager’s encouraging eyes. “You’re so brave and so strong.”

“I don’t feel neither of those lately.” Her quiet voice makes Irving stand up and walk up to her.

“Maybe you need to be up on that stage. Maybe that’s just what you need, to do what you love again. I know you’ve been working on designs and other stuff lately but _you_ belong up there.” He pulls her to his body then and wraps his arms around her. It’s been quite a few years now, so many cries and laughs for him to know when she needs a shoulder to cry on. “It’s okay, darlin’. It’s okay.” He soothes quietly as Gwen hugs him back and shares the tears she had been holding.

Her quiet sobs are the only sound that can be heard in the next minute until Gwen pulls away and wipes away her tears as she tries to control her breathing and look presentable and professional again. “You don’t need to be strong for me.”

“I know.” She nods and her hands fall back on her sides as she wipes away the last tear.

“I’m going to give you a couple of days to think this through. Whether you’re in or out we have to say something before Friday.”

The singer nods before she sits down again and cradles the cup of coffee to her chest. “When and where are these awards taking place.”

“November 4th in Nashville.” The platinum blonde star presses her lips together as she nods a few times.

The subject changes then as they talk about Irving and he tells her stories about Chelsea Handler that has Gwen laughing out loud for a while, which is exactly what she needs.

  


She accepts. A week later, after a very successful Halloween, she’s on her way to Nashville to meet up with certain people and of course, meet her duet partner. She scheduled her makeup and wardrobe team to arrive two days before the event, so that means tomorrow. For now, it’s just Lizzie on the plane with her.

She meets Tim that same afternoon after settling in in the hotel and getting a quick lunch. She immediately falls for the southern charm and his personality. She finds herself smiling as he talks to her and shows her around the arena holding the show.

“You know?” He turns to meet her as they walk through the hallways of the stadium. “It’s a shame you couldn’t come on the show.”

She pulls off an smile as she meets his gaze under his characteristic cowboy hat. “Yeah, I was very excited about that, actually.”

“Maybe in the near future?” He asks opening the door for her to walk through first.

“Thank you.” She says, “I hope so. I’d love that.” Gwen spins on her feet as she steps outside in the bright Tennessee sun and watches as the country approaches her.

“My wife is excited to meet you, actually. Maybe more than I was.” He giggles putting on the sunglasses that had been hanging off of his v-neck shirt the whole time.

“That’s so sweet.” They stop before the steps leading to the cars waiting for them, “Thank you for inviting me. I’m happy I decided to accept.” She says quietly, “I almost didn’t.”

The country star stares at her as a smile forms on his face, “I’m glad you did. I can’t wait for the first rehearsal tomorrow.”

“Neither can I.” She slips her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt. “I see you tomorrow, I guess.” She beams at him as she tilts her head to the car waiting for her.

“Do you have plans tonight? Cos I think we’re staying in the same hotel and Faith would really be thrilled to meet you.”

“Oh.” She giggles, “I’m free yeah. Sure!”

“Okay, so dinner at 8?”

“Sounds good.” She offers her hand for him to shake but Tim shakes his head as he chuckles and then pulls her in for a hug that catches her completely off guard.

“We southern people like to hug.” He smiles at Gwen who beams back and nods at him.

“Thanks for the warm welcome.”

 

Dinner’s fantastic. She has fun which is exactly what she needs right now. Being away from home is great so far, she feels kind of new and refreshed and even though she misses her kids, she believes this is just what she needs. She gets along with both, Tim and Faith, and even though she’s jealous of their incredible bond, she puts those feelings aside and decides to just enjoy the evening. The conversation is fluid and it never gets awkward or silent, the contrary, one of the waitresses has to come up to them saying that the restaurant is closing down but that they can continue their conversation in the bar area. And they do. She observes as both country stars ask for a non-alcoholic drink, so she follows along saying that she’d get the same thing they’re having.

  


The first rehearsal goes amazingly well. Tim’s shocked when he finds out that Gwen knows all the words to his song, _Humble and Kind_ , which makes her giggle.

“Well, we have to sing it in a couple of days on National Television. I better know them!” She lets out a little laugh as she pulls her hair up in a bun.

“True, true.” He says putting the mic on the stand and walking up the table with bottles of water for them to take.

“I really like the song, the lyrics- wow,” Gwen says walking beside him.

“Yeah.” He agrees as he opens the bottle of water. He takes a couple of seconds to breath in and out and then drinks. “So, what do you think about the arrangements? Singing with the mics stands and all.”

“I uhm... It’s your song, I don’t want-“ Gwen fidgets.

“I’m open to suggestions.” He throws a charming smile her way and Gwen presses her lips together thinking about what to say next.

“Well, uhm-“ she takes a couple steps away from the bar table and faces the stage. “I’m thinking that maybe you could come out of there.” He points at the right side of the stage, “and begin the song as you walk up the centre of the stage.” Gwen looks up to meet his gaze as Tim touches his chin picturing the scene. He nods adding a soft smile her way to show that he’s quite interested in the idea. “And maybe I could come out of the other side. This way we command the stage even with such a calm song.”

“I like it.”

“I was also thinking that we could use stools rather than mic stands, but that’s not really important,” Gwen explains as she walks up to the centre of the stage to visualize how two stools would look like.

“No, no wait. I like that.” He rushes up to her and when he’s right beside Gwen, he puts his hands up as if he were picturing the stools. “I do like it. It will make the song sound more intimate and-“

“Humble?” Gwen giggles and he lets out a laugh as he spins on his feet to face him again. “We don’t have to do this arrangement, I mean, it’s your song.” She looks down and takes a step back hiding away.

“For one night it will be our song so I want you to feel comfortable.” He waits as Gwen lifts her head again and slowly draws a smile on her face.

“I’m a little intimidated, to be honest.” She says directly to his eyes but soon turns around to face the empty arena. “I haven’t done this in a long time and I have never sung country, that’s for sure!” She lets out a nervous laugh as she slips her hands into her grey hoodie. Tim takes a moment to regain his thoughts and find the perfect thing to say, maybe not perfect, but something that will calm her down and will give her the confidence she needs.

He walks up to her and stands by her side facing the empty seats, “I don’t really know you.” He begins, “But I know about you enough to know that you can do this. You’ve done this a hundred times and all over the world.” She keeps her eyes on the darkish empty space as she bites down her lower lip. “I also know it’s been hard for you lately and yes, I just admitted that I have googled you.” Gwen lets out an almost quiet chuckle and Tim smiles to himself because he’s slowly breaking her walls. “Accepting to sing with me on an award show of a genre I assume you know nothing about,” Gwen turns her head to look at him as she blushes embarrassingly, “is so brave. I respect you tons.” He takes a deep breath and then spins on his feet to face her, “I would have shit my pants if you had asked me to sing Hella Good or Hollaback Girl with you. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Gwen’s full on laughing as she bends over placing her hands on her knees. When her laugh dies, she stands up properly again and spins on her feet to face the country singer, “I might do that one day just to see you move around the stage saying ‘this shit is bananas’.” She completely tilts her head up to meet his eyes under the cowboy hat as a bright toothed smile appears on her face. She puts a strand of hair behind her ear and nods as if she were bowing down in gratitude for his words. “Thank you.” She breathes out. “Really.”

“Anytime.” He replies sincerely as he puts the mic in his backside pocket. “Now, let’s go get lunch. I’m starving.”

 

They have the second spot of soundcheck the day of the ceremony. Gwen dresses up in black tight skinny jeans and a black turtleneck and black boots. She feels confident in this attire, she feels like herself and most of all elegant.

She enters the arena followed by Lizzie and greets everyone she walks by. Some look at her as if she were an alien and that makes her giggle because she would have the same reaction if she were them and saw such a non-country artist in the CMA awards ceremony. But she smiles and says _hi_ looking at everyone straight in the eyes. She feels good today, she is ready to face a room full of unknown but important faces. She feels confident and she has missed that. Even if it’s just for today, she feels like the Gwen before the divorce, the Gwen that has commanded stages all over the world.  That’s what she needs tonight, and wishes it continues tomorrow, but even if it’s just for a few hours, she is happy the _she_ she likes the most is back.

 

When she arrives at the stage she immediately recognizes Tim in his cowboy hat. He is wearing jeans and a hoodie, which she frowns at because the two days she has known him he always looked straight out of a fashion show with his tight jeans and unbuttoned shirt or v-neck. Right beside him, there’s a tall man with a glass of some kind of transparent liquid on the rocks. She shakes her head and presses her lips together. _Drinking at 11 am._ She rolls her eyes and then starts to walk again. She takes the stairs to the stage and slowly approaches her duet partner and the guy standing there looking a little exhausted for it only being 11 o’clock. He’s wearing a plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. He is not wearing a cowboy hat, but he has a cap backward which covers his hair. Tim’s talking to him as the mystery man nods continuously as if he weren’t really paying attention as he just wanted to leave.

“Hi.” Her quiet tone catches only the plaid guy’s attention as he stares at her with a flat look on his face. There are a few seconds in which he just looks at her and she looks at him. Gwen pulls off a small smile as she studies the man in front of her. He looks tired. The bags under his eyes are visible and just his whole look and presence screams _I don’t want to be here_ . But he is, so that has to mean something. His blue eyes are breathtaking, that catches her attention and also the soft three-day stubble on his face. The pattern of his plaid shirt hurts her eyes as she tries to look anywhere but at his clothed chest. _Seriously, just too many shades of blue._ She says to herself as her eyes land on the drink again. The transparent glass makes it able to see a same transparent liquid and a bit of ice. When he looks back up again, her gaze meets his and the man hides his drink behind his back as his other hand touches Tim’s shoulder. “What?” He asks almost started by the man’s touch.

“She’s here.” The mysterious man’s voice is quiet and shy, but kind of strong at the same time. She notices how he doesn’t say her name but definitely recognizes her.

“Gwen.” Tim sounds a little but off as he finally looks her way. “Hi, hi! I’m sorry.” He goes in for a hug and the frontwoman hugs him back. “I uhm-“

“Hi.” Gwen says looking at the man in plaid. “I’m Gwen.”

“Yeah, I know.” That’s all that comes out of his mouth as he takes a small sip of his drink. Gwen almost pulls her hand up for him to shake but she realizes that the man definitely wants nothing to do with her so she decides to keep it by her side awkwardly.  

“Gwen,” Tim’s reassuring voice breaks the uncomfortable silence as he paces the floor, “I have to leave.”

“Wh- what?”

“I will not be able to be here tonight or perform.” He says quietly as Gwen takes a step towards him but Tim looks down defeated. “My dad’s in the ICU. He had a heart attack last night and I just-“ he takes a deep breath as he covers his face with one hand and takes his hat off with the other. Gwen studues in the broken man in front of her as she also realizes that this is the first time she sees him sans hat. Now is not the time to point that out, so she takes another step and places her soft hand on his arm.

“I’m so sorry.” The country singer forces himself to smile up at her as he takes in her soft truthful eyes.

“I have to be there.”

“I know and I understand. Don’t worry about the performance.” Gwen reassures him in a quiet calm tone that she thinks it’s what he needs right now.

The country star takes a deep breath and looks at her and then at the tall man standing nearby, “He’s going to sing with you.” He explains walking up to the cowboy boots guy, who is standing almost awkwardly as he looks from Tim to her.

“Oh.” Gwen lets out a surprised sound which makes the nameless man chuckle.

“You sound excited.” His voice makes an appearance again. This time it’s not necessarily cocky as before, but a bit sarcastic for sure.

_Two can play this game._

She turns to look at the stubbly man and asks, “And you are?”

 


	2. Pieces come unglued

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake and Gwen rehearse for their performance but they don't seem to be in sync.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So glad you guys are intrigued and like this story! Here's more!
> 
> Make may be a little out of character in this chapter, but we'll get to the why soon enough. 
> 
> ENJOY!

_“You sound excited.” His voice makes an appearance again. This time it’s not necessarily cocky as before, but a bit sarcastic for sure._

_Two can play this game._

_She turns to look at the stubbly man and asks, “And you are?”_

 

Tim scoffs as Blake’s eyes widen, a little bit taken aback by her question.

“Well done, Gwen!” Tim comes to stand next to her as he lets out a little laugh, “Keep him on your toes.” She frowns and looks up at his former duet partner, “Oh.” His cheeky smile disappears as he presses his lips together but still a laugh manages to escape from inside of him. “You really don’t know who he is.” Tim turns his head to look at Blake as he tries to surpass a laugh by covering his mouth with one hand. “Sorry, Blake. It’s funny.” The country singer walks up to his friend and pats his back making the mystery guy stumble a little bit. “Okay so let me do the honors-“

“No, Tim.” Blake stops his friend as he steps into the famous ska turned pop singer, “I’m sorry that was uhm- wrong and uncalled for.” He lowers his voice as he walks closer to her “My name’s Blake-“ he pulls out his hand as his other one still holds the glass behind his back. “Shelton.”

Gwen stares at him for a moment as she, yet again, spots his tired heavy eyes and the bags under them. The versatile singer nods at him and pulls off a little barely there smile, “Gwen Stefani.”

“I don’t think you’re one of those artists that need to drop their surname.” Blake chuckles quietly as Gwen lets a small smile appear on her face, “Nice to meet you.” Gwen shakes his hand and he stares down at her almost awkwardly, like he was staring into her soul. His eyes roam over her face and she always feels like he’s undressing her layers with his eyes and he’s seeing her darkest secrets.

“Okay so,” Tim appears right next to them breaking their moment and their handshake. “I think this is going to work out pretty well.”

Blake hums as his eyes finally leave hers to fall on his fellow country star, “I hope your dad feels better soon. I’ll come by tomorrow.”

Gwen watches the both of them exchange a few words and imagines that they have been friends for quite a while. Maybe not the closest friends but they have a bond going on, and Tim did ask him to cover up, so that has to mean something. She studies her new duet partner, his hand movements and the way his eyes close a little bit when he smiles. His dimples catch her attention and she has to surpass a giggle because the little holes on his face break the tough and emotionless act he pulled off at first, and actually make him look kind of adorable. Gwen shakes the thoughts out of her head and tries to catch up on the conversation they two are having.

“She came up with the stage setting,” she hears Tim’s voice and she nods to get back into the discussion, “She’ll tell you. Huh, Gwen?”

She nods a few times, “Sure.”

“And you?” The man in the cowboy hat turns to Blake and softens his features, “smile a little, huh? Come on, it will be fine.” Blake’s eyes shift to Gwen for a second as some kind of panic takes over him. She doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even move a cell but she sees a part of herself in him and his uncomfortable look.

When his eyes fall back to Tim’s, he nods and keeps his head down, “Yeah.” He doesn’t sound very convinced, not a bit, and Gwen wants to ask so many questions because there’s something wrong with him but she cannot see through his layers.

 

Tim hugs Gwen goodbye and promises to invite her to one of his shows and a barbecue at his and Faith’s place in Nashville.

“Thank you for everything.” She says once they pull away, “I’ll pray for your dad.”

His voice and eyes soften, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for inviting me. I hope we get to sing together one day.”

“God! I hope so too.” He goes in for another hug as Gwen tightens her hold on him, thinking that he probably needs the support and the warmth of a hug. When they pull away, Tim takes two steps back and teasingly bows down to her taking off his hat as well. Gwen chuckles and blushes up and she shakes her head incredulously. “Treat her well, Blake!” He shouts as he walks down the stairs without turning to look at them. She spins around to look at Blake and watches him nod almost shyly as he keeps his eyes on the man walking away.

 

When Tim has disappeared into the darkness of the arena, Gwen turns on her feet to look at the man standing lonely in the centre of the stage. Both his hands hold the transparent glass as he stares down at it.

“Okay so we should hurry up cos we not only have to soundcheck, but we also have to rehearse at least twice.”  Blake studies her as she walks around and moves her hands up and down. “You know the song, right?” Blake lets out a laugh that catches her attention as she freezes and slowly spins on her feet to fix her gaze on him.

“I do. No need to panic.”

She turns around to walk up to the sound tech guys when she hears them walk closely and Blake stays behind for a moment as she watches her casually talk with the three guys as they wire her up. She seems very down to earth so far and he totally didn’t expect that. One of the men makes her laugh and the exquisite sound reaches his ears making a soft smile appear on his face. He awkwardly stands behind her as she conducts small talk with the three men that look hypnotized by her enough to not notice his presence until he clears his throat.

“Blake! Guitar and mic as always?”

Gwen, still giving her back to Blake, frowns and presses her lips together. _As always?_ She wonders. The frontwoman links her fingers together and spins on her feet to face her duet partner as he stands before her taking a sip of his drink. 

“Guitar?” Gwen asks him as her eyes follow his cup from his lips to down his sides. _Why is he drinking at 11 o’clock?_

Blake bounces on his feet and nods twice, “Is there a problem?” Gwen sighs quietly and touches the side of her face as she tries to keep a professional and comprehensive composure. “Gwen?” He tries again when she doesn’t reply.

“All the arrangements and light work are planned out and ready for the choreography we planned out with Tim,” she explains calmly as she paces the room trying to avoid looking at him, “and he decided to sing sans guitar.” She finally meets his eyes as she places both her hands on her hips as if she were challenging him.

“Oh.” Blake’s mouth shapes a little O as he also scratches his stubbly cheek, “Well I’m sorry but I cannot perform without my guitar.”

“Are you serious?” He doesn’t know how to answer that so he just nods and reaches out for his guitar as the sound-tech guy appears at the right moment to not make the situation even more awkward. “Do you realize that now we have to change everything?”

Blake stares at her. This is his home, she cannot come in here and boss him around like this. “Look, I just...” he exhales and grips the almost empty plastic glass, “I cannot do it without my guitar, okay?”

Gwen presses her lips together and takes a deep breath, “Fine whatever. You can use a wireless mic and we can still-“ she stops when he lets out a laugh and rapidly covers his mouth to stop himself from going further. Gwen turns to look at the sound check guy and he shrugs and walks away, “what?” She looks at Blake again and he raises his eyebrows at her as he bites down his lower lip.

“I need a mic stand. I... don’t do the wireless mic thing. I don’t like earpieces.”

“Oh for god’s sake!” Gwen loses her patience as she storms out to one side of the stage and gets a mic stand. With the same determination in her walking, she rushes back to him in the centre of the stage and places the mic stand on the floor visually annoyed by his childish antiques. “Can we start the rehearsal now?” She challenges him again as Blake just nods a little intimidated by her. She’s annoyed, he can feet that much, but he just needs his guitar, _is that very hard to understand?_

He studies her as she stops at the centre of the stage and tilts her head back staring at the ceiling for a few seconds. She looks around at the lights and the stage and when she’s about to say something, Blake opens his mouth first.

“I am here, okay? Tim asked me to step in and I did it for him cos he is my friend. I do not want to be here, in fact, if I could I’d be hiding away in the woods but...” He pants and closes his eyes and speaks quietly, “He said you were so excited to perform here,” he continues as he slowly starts to look up to meet her shy eyes, “and I want that excitement to carry on at least until the curtains close tonight.” He takes one more step to her as Gwen opens her mouth to say something, “One last thing.” He flashes his dimples at her and Gwen raises her hand up as well as her eyebrows, for him to continue speaking. “The next soundcheck spot is also mine cos I have a solo performance as well. We can use that time too, is that alright?”

He almost wants to laugh when he sees her eyes and mouth widen, “You’re performing solo?” Blake nods. “That’s nice.”

“I guess.” Blake shrugs and then finally finishes his drink leaving the empty glass on the nearest table.

“How long-“ Gwen stops but his soft gaze and a tiny smile encourage her to continue, “How long have you been in the business?”

“You really have no idea who I am, huh?” Blake chuckles taking off his cap for a moment to comb his hair and put it back on. Gwen gets a sneak peek of his brown turning grey in some areas and very appealing hair. “Well, uhm- I’m not going to tell you. You’ll see tonight.” He cheekily grins at her and reaches out for his guitar on the stand and then walks to the mic stand of the middle of the stage, leaving a jaw dropped curious Gwen on one side of the stage.

“Really?”

“Oh and” he turns around to look at her, “no googling either.” He winks her way and then yells for the music to begin to see if the guitar is well connected.

Gwen runs up to him and stands between the mic and him taking Blake completely off guard as he steps away to create some space. “That’s not fair. You know who I am.”

“Well, who doesn’t?” He lets out a laugh and then tries off a few chords to try out the guitar.

  


Soon enough the music starts and Gwen’s starting the song alongside him in the centre of the stage. He keeps his head down in the first notes but when her voice joins the instrumental part he immediately looks up. She sounds beautiful, he definitely didn’t expect that. When Tim had asked him to cover his absence he had laughed saying that there was no way Gwen Stefani would be able to sing that song or try to hard and overdo it, but she does sound amazing. Her tone is perfect and her voice is just as gentle as the song. He finds himself getting drawn into her which makes him miss two chords. Gwen notices his mistake and stops tearing her gaze away from the empty seats and to Blake who looks like he has seen a ghost. “Are you okay?” She asks.

He clears his throat and looks down at the guitar to cover up his mistake and trying to find a way to blame the instrument.

“This is a new guitar and... well I just have to get used to it.” He explains faking to tune one of the cords. “Listen, I was thinking.” He beams at her as Gwen looks at him curiously, “Since you start the song, maybe we could still come from different sides of the stage.”

“Are you sure there’s going to be enough time for you to reach the mic to do your solo?” Gwen wonders taking a few steps back to her starting point.

“Should we try?” Blake suggests finding his spot on the other side of the stage. 

 

It doesn’t work out well and Gwen feels like the world’s falling on her shoulders and Blake’s not really helping. She runs a hand through her hair and paces the floor for a few seconds. He sounds amazing, that is for sure. His deep yet soft calming voice is a surprise to her, and even if he has changed most of all the arrangements of the choreography of the song, their voices fit together like puzzle pieces. Still, there is something off. He’s not looking back at her or even being playful with the song. He just walks straight ahead to his spot and when he’s there and they have half of the song to sing, he doesn’t turn to look at her or even plays with the song a little bit. No, he just looks at the empty seats.

 

 

 

“I’m sorry.” His soft drawl reaches her ears and makes her body spin to meet his almost shy look. He’s sitting on a chair, his elbows on his knees and his head down. “I’m...” he shakes his head and takes off his cap throwing it to the floor.

Gwen freezes and studies him as she watches him lose it a little bit. He looks exhausted and she kind of wants to run off and run to him at the same time. The long exhale that escapes his mouth gives away more than he would have wanted but he’s just so tired and he doesn’t care if he breaks down, right here, right now. “I need a moment.” And like that he takes off and Gwen doesn’t run to him.

 

About ten minutes later he comes back with two paper cups. He looks more relaxed but still weary. He tries to put that aside as he approaches her silently. She’s sitting on the chair he had occupied minutes before and she had also gotten hold of his guitar and was playing random chords on it. He stares at her for what feels like forever and he hates himself for leaving her all alone. “That sounds good.” He says in a gentle tone that startles her, “Sorry.”

“Are you okay?” She asks standing up to meet him by the stairs. He hums and hands her one cup. “What’s that?”

“A Blatte.” He bounces on his feet as he takes a sip of his drink.

“A what?”

“A Blake latte. Blatte.” He lets out a little chuckle that makes Gwen draw a smile on her face. “You drink coffee?”

“Not really, but since you got it for me, I will drink it.”

He smiles at her and then lowers his gaze to the floor where he sees his cowboy boots and her black ones.He chuckles silently because they’re so different, they come from different worlds and parts of the country. He wonders what she thinks about him now that she only knows his name. But he’s not going to ask. He doesn’t need an opinion based on his manners today of all days. He knows he’s not giving the best of himself but there’s just something off, maybe it’s this place and all the memories it holds or maybe it has to do with seeing Miranda last night and seeing her again tonight. He shakes the thoughts out of his head and speaks up. “I haven’t slept, if you hadn’t noticed already.” His voice breaks the silence again, “and when I said before that I didn’t want to be here it was not because of you.” He fixes his blue eyes on hers and when he watches her nod, “there’s just going to be people in the audience that I don’t want to see again. I want to apologize for being rude, you don’t deserve it and I should be responsible enough to keep it to myself and be professional.”

“It’s okay.” Her lower tone reaches his ears and Blake shakes his head.

“No, it’s not.”

“Bl-“

“Can we continue the rehearsal?” He cuts her off changing the subject.

Gwen bites the insides of her cheek and then nods. “While you were away I thought that maybe we could use stools. That was Tim’s original idea. How does that sound to you?”

“Stools?” He thinks about it for a moment and then agrees. “I like that.”

  


When her car reaches the queue of all the back SUVs carrying country music’s greatest names to the entrance of the red carpet, Gwen gulps and covers her face with her hands trying not to smudge the makeup. Does she want to walk the red carpet? She used to love that and even if most of the times she walked alone, there is something pulling her back now. Her window is tinned, so no one can see from the outside, but she has a clear view of the outdoors. There’s people everywhere even though she had decided to arrive the last thirty minutes of the official streamed red carpet. She knows she has nothing to worry about, she likes her maroon jumpsuit, loves it even. The darkish colour brings out her eyes in a way she could have never imagined and the material hugs her in all the right places. She feels beautiful and sexy for maybe the first time this year and she wants to take advantage of that and walk the carpet that will lead her to the entrance of the arena.

“We’re here ma’am.” The southern accent of her driver snaps her back to reality as she realizes that the car has indeed stopped and that there’s a guy coming up to open the door for her.

“Thank you so much.” Gwen smiles at the young man and then takes a deep breath just before the door opens and she puts one foot on the ground. She can hear fans screaming names and photographs yelling _over here_ and _smile_ and a lot of other words that freak her out a little bit. She takes a look around to see no familiar faces, but the guy that had opened the door for her offers Gwen his hand to help her come out of the car completely and she graciously smiles at him and accepts the help. “Welcome to the CMAs.” He flashes a smile and then nods as is he were kind of bowing down to her which makes Gwen chuckle.

“Thank you.” She smiles back and completely lets go of him. She tilts her head up and finds a couple posing for pictures and some others waiting behind the line. She walks up to them and patiently waits for her turn. She looks around to search for the one familiar face, Blake, but she doesn’t see him anywhere near. She presses her lips together as she watches the happy couple continue their stroll and the first in line take the x marked on the photocall. She doesn’t even know these people but she kind of feels jealous because she’s all alone, not only partner-less but also friendless. She has no support whatsoever, and the person that could maybe fill the blank is nowhere to be found.

She hears her name and she looks up expectantly. Someone, somewhere has recognized her and suddenly heads turn to her and she wants to dig a hole and disappear. The man standing in front of her smiles at her as his eyes widen in surprise.

“Whoa.” He’s young and handsome. His beard makes him look a little bit older but Gwen thinks he can’t be older than 30 something. “I heard rumors that you were coming but-“ he trails off when the person in charge of the red carpet calls his name. “I’m Brett Eldredge.”

She hears her name everywhere but only has eyes for the charming guy bouncing on his feet. “Hi. I’m Gwen.”

“I know.” He chuckles as he slips his hands into the pockets of his dress pants. “Everyone knows.” Gwen blushes a little bit as she puts a strand, of her Marilyn styled hair, behind her ear. “They probably know you better than me.” Gwen lets out a laugh and then someone calls his name making him turn to the photocall space and then back at her. “See you around.” With that, the complete stranger named Brett takes off leaving Gwen with an almost silly smile on her face as she watches him pose for the cameras in his tuxedo.

 

When it’s her turn, he winks at her and steps away and into the interview area that is crowded with girls in nice gowns and suited up guys. She poses for the cameras, a little shy at first but slowly starts to loosen up when she changes to the other side and even draws a big bright smile on her face as she plays a little bit for the paparazzi who continue to yell at her to pose for them. She’s not doing this for anyone, just for herself because she wants to feel like herself again and boost her ego up a little bit. When she has had enough, she waves goodbye and takes a few steps into the beginning of the red carpet. Some people stare at her, some question the nearest what she’s doing here, and others just don’t notice her presence. She’s fine with all the different reactions, really, this is not her night, after all. There are people nominated and she doesn’t want to take away their spotlight.

A voice she recognizes calls out her name making her spin on her feet as she sees a familiar blonde interviewer who she can’t remember the name of. Still, she walks up and hugs her asking how she is.

“Fancy seeing you here.” The interviewer starts and Gwen chuckles.

“Yeah, it’s a little... I don’t know unexpected I guess.”

“Totally. Nice to see you though. It’s been a while.” There is goes. Gwen takes a breath and bites the inside of her cheek.

“I’ve been having me time lately, me and the kids. I guess we needed that.” Gwen explains trying to play around with the subject.

“Well you look incredible and it’s good to see you back, smiling and confident.”

Gwen shyly smiles as she hears the words come out of the other woman’s mouth. Smiling and confident? _Confident?_ She doesn’t feel confident at all, but if the smile on her face shows that, she’ll take it. “Thank you.” She replies.

“Do you have any project going on?”

“I always have a project going on.” She laughs a bit, “I’ve been writing but I’m not allowed to say more.”

“You going to leave us hanging?” The interviewer teases as Gwen silently nods taking a step back. “Well, it was nice to see you.”

“Same here.” She takes another step back and hears another interviewer call her name. E!News, okay.  

The girl presents herself as Sophie and Gwen greets her back. “So it’s known that Tim had to step back and got Blake Shelton to cover for him.”

“He did.” Gwen agrees.

“How was that experience?”

“We just met this morning, but good so far.”

“He’s funny.” _Funny?_ Gwen recalls that he hadn’t even tried to pull off a joke but she finds herself nodding in agreement. He looked devastated this morning, of course he hadn’t pulled off any jokes. “Are you up for a little trivia about him?” The interviewer asks but Gwen panics a little bit.

“Oh... I don’t know much about him, to be honest.” She prays the girl doesn’t push it but she does and shoots the first question. “How many categories is he nominated for?” Oh god, help her. _Is he nominated?_ She doesn’t even know who he is other than his name. “Two. Three or none.”

Well, she gets to choose. _Phew_. She thinks fast. He has to be at least a bit of somebody to be best buddies with Tim McGraw and he’s old enough for having been in the business for a while.

“Two?” She replies.

“Yeah!! Correct! He’s nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year and Musical Event of The Year.”

 _Wow okay_. He’s definitely somebody. “Congrats are in order!” Gwen adds as she laughs nervously.

“Okay, next question.” _God, there’s more?_ Gwen gulps and fakes a smile hiding the nerves. “Which of these is not a Blake Shelton album.”

 _She’s screwed_.

The interviewer calls out a few names and she chooses Blake Shelton’s Barn and Grill because who the hell would name an album like that? _Stupid_.

“That’s actually his third album.” The girl with the mic lets out a laugh as Gwen’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Really?” She exclaims surprised. That sounds very southern and maybe it’s not so stupid for him after all.

“Last one.”

_Oh, thank god!_

“Where is he from?” The girl asks the question and Gwen waits patiently for the options but they never come.

“No options?” She lets out a nervous laugh that turns a bit into a panic one when the interviewer shakes her head. She thinks about it for a moment, but really has no idea.

“Oklahoma.” She hears a masculine soft voice right behind her and she turns just a bit to find the handsome fella who was in front of her in the photocall. Gwen looks at him and smiles graciously as she mouths a thank you.

“Correct!!” Gwen vaguely hears the high-pitched voice of the E!News correspondent because she’s too busy staring at this guy who looks incredibly handsome in his dark blue tuxedo and bowtie. “Hi, Brett!”

“Soph! Good to see you.” His soft manly voice greets the woman on the job as she smiles back at him. He’s a charmer alright. “Do I win something for that?” He teases. “I could answer all the Blake Trivia questions. I’m that big of a fan.”

“Where is he?” The interviewer asks and Gwen sees the man's smug smile disappears rapidly.

“You know him, he doesn’t like to walk this thing. Now, he’ll better be inside or I’m gonna have to step up and sing with this stunning woman myself.” Gwen shakes her head incredulously as she stays silent. “We met on the photocall,” Brett explains when Sophie asks.

  


Gwen turns her head to look at him as they walk to the entrance of the venue. She definitely doesn’t want to answer any more questions about her or about anyone else for that matter. The Brett guy smiles at her as he steps aside to let her walk in first. “Are you nominated as well?”

“Oh, no. I’m not.” He still pulls off an smile, “I am performing though.”

“Well, that’s good too. Maybe you’ll get a nomination next year.”

“For all you know, I could be a crappy singer.”

“I don’t think you are,” Gwen adds as they reach two girls that immediately recognize her and offer to take her to her seat but Brett asks for a minute.

“What makes you think so?”

“You look like a star.”

Brett chuckles softly as he runs a hand through his hair nervously. “Thank you.”

“Thank you for saving me from the trivia questions.”

“That’s alright.” He flashes a smile and offers his hand to her, “Nice to meet you.” Gwen looks down and takes it giving it a soft squeeze.

”Likewise,” Gwen says as she lets go and takes a step back. When she has taken a few steps towards the girl waiting for her, she turns to Brett one last time and asks, “How big of an artist is he, really?”

“Big. One of the best.” He spins on his feet and walks away, leaving a stunned Gwen holding her handbag close to her chest.

  


She’s asked to go backstage to get ready thirty minutes before the performance. She still hasn’t seen Blake and it’s kind of worrying her, she doesn’t need another bail. She feels a smile come to her face when she sees him leaning against a wall talking to a woman in a red gown. She doesn’t want to interrupt the talking so she walks past them and to the soundcheck guys to get mic-ed up but his voice stops her.

She turns around and fixes her eyes on his. She sees him pull off a smile and she gives him one in return as he moves his hand up for her to join him and his friend, and at first Gwen hesitates, but he insists. As she makes her way to them, she takes a moment to look at him; he’s wearing jeans, a white shirt, and black vest and tie. The jeans bring a chuckle to her lips but she likes the vest, it hugs his body just right and it maintains a casual yet elegant vibe.

“I want you to meet Karen Fairchild.” He speaks when she gets to them. The woman beams at her almost nervously.

“Hi!” Gwen says first as she offers the other woman her hand, “Nice to meet you.”

“Hello!” She takes Gwen’s hands and squeezes, “The pleasure is mine, believe me.” She seems almost starstruck and that makes Gwen chuckle, even Blake lets out a little laugh as he looks from one woman to the other.

“Hi, Blake.” Gwen also greets her duet partner.

“Hello. You look very…”

Before he has time to continue, Karen steps in, “Beautiful.”

“Yeah.” Blake agrees as his eyes shamelessly roam her body making Gwen slightly uncomfortable. “Ready?” He asks bluntly.

“I think so, yeah.” She nods at him and then turns to Karen, “Are you performing?”

“Yeah, later on.”

“She’s the lead singer of Little Big Town.” Blake adds, but when he sees the confusion on Gwen’s face when she doesn’t recognize the band’s name, he continues. “They’re a band. Two guys, two girls. She’s married to one of the guys.”

“Ah! That’s so rad!” Gwen exclaims tilting her head to the tall brunette woman. “Cool. Real nice.” 

“Okay, so I’ll leave you two to it. Good luck.” She says and then steps aside to talk to somebody else.

Blake watches her leave and then slowly shifts his gaze to Gwen who has her head down as she plays with her fingers. “Everything okay?” She nods but doesn’t look up. “It’s okay to be nervous, you know? I’m shitting myself.” He tries to cool down the atmosphere with a joke that makes her laugh. Mission accomplished. 

"Then, I am too.”

“You have nothing to worry about.” He assures her.

“Says the country singer about to sing a country song.”

Blake reaches out to put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention and it works, because her eyes meet his and she suddenly feels so close so he fidgets and takes half a step back to create some space, “You really did amazing in the rehearsal and your voice fits the song. Who cares if it’s not a country tone? I sure hell don’t.”

She nods silently and from the corner of her eyes sees his hand still on her shoulder making her nervous and warm inside at the same time. “Thanks.” She stares into his baby blues for what feels like an eternity that is cut off by some deep voice calling out for them to get mic-ed up. She sees Blake funnily raise his eyebrows at her as his dimples dip into his skin making some of her insecurities disappear. “Let’s do this.”

 

They use the commercial break to enter the stage and get settled on the stools. He’s quietly getting his guitar ready as Gwen takes a look around. She gulps when she sees all the seats filled up and the people on the front door study her. This is huge, she thinks. It looks even bigger now that it’s filled up by country music personalities and fans.

Her gaze shifts to Blake who has his head down, “You okay?” Her voice makes him look up but not meet her eyes. It’s like he doesn’t want to fully look up at her or anywhere else. “Okay.” She presses her lips together and nods a few times to calm herself down and try to ignore his childish shy antiques.

Soon enough someone is introducing them and after a few seconds of silence, the music breaks the quietness of the space with Blake’s beautiful guitar sound. She turns her head to him and meets his blue eyes that shine in the dimmed stage and he nods at her encouragingly. Her voice joins the guitar solo a bit off the first few words but she bravely picks it up as she shifts to look at the audience. The lights make it impossible for her to see faces so she closes her eyes and imagines that she’s back to the empty arena this morning while they rehearsed. She doesn’t know why but she finds herself turning to face Blake halfway through her solo and it shocks her when she finds his eyes already on her. He seems completely taken aback that she thinks he’s going to miss his verse hut he doesn’t. His voice replaces her as he takes a moment to address the words he is singing to the audience but quickly tilts his head back to Gwen who bobs her head to the melody.

  



	3. Heartbreak playlist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!!
> 
> Writer's block hit me pretty hard this time and it's still here but I decided to give writing a try and this came up. I hope you're still interested in this story.   
> It's been pretty hard to not make it look like another City That Never Sleeps, that's also one of the reasons why it's taken me quite a bit to update. 
> 
> To Lea, your tweets are the main reason I decided to write again. THANK YOU!

 

_ Previous chapter:  _

The lights make it impossible for her to see faces so she closes her eyes and imagines that she’s back to the empty arena this morning while they rehearsed. She doesn’t know why but she finds herself turning to face Blake halfway through her solo and it shocks her when she finds his eyes already on her. He seems completely taken aback that she thinks he’s going to miss his verse hut he doesn’t. His voice replaces her as he takes a moment to address the words he is singing to the audience but quickly tilts his head back to Gwen who bobs her head to the melody.

 

__

_ Don't expect a free ride from no one _

_ Don't hold a grudge or a chip and here's why _

_ Bitterness keeps you from flying _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

 

The sound of his voice in gentle, nurturing and patient, something she had not expected. During rehearsals, he had sung with more rawness and even though it really didn't fit the song, she kind of liked it. This softer side though, she finds herself surprised by it as she bobs her head to the melody. 

She steps in again and she tries to keep her eyes on the audience she knows is out there. The words spill out of her mouth so easily but they hurt her heart inside. She hasn’t known humble and kind for a long time, at least not from the one person she expected. Gavin had been all but that. He had destroyed her and her confidence in so many ways and over many years. She had been denying it for so long and she was just now starting to realize how blind she had been. Not blind by love, blind to the idea of a perfect love that she now knows she never had. 

 

_ Know the difference between sleeping with someone _

_ And sleeping with someone you love _

_ I love you ain't no pick up line so _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

 

Maybe she hadn’t noticed before in the rehearsals, but the way Blake sings this song is as if he had written it himself. His eyes close and that just makes the words come out with much more passion and determination. He looks hurt, betrayed and that makes her wonder what happened to him to feel like this. 

 

_ Hold the door say please say thank you _

_ Don't steal, don't cheat, and don't lie _

_ I know you got mountains to climb but _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

_ When those dreams you're dreamin' come to you _

_ When the work you put in is realized _

_ Let yourself feel the pride but _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

 

There’s a moment in which time freezes and their eyes meet when Blake looks up from his guitar to find her gaze on him. For a brief moment, he believes he’s going to miss the start of the next verse but the softness in Gwen's eyes burst his bubble and both their voices harmonize to finish the song.

  
  


_ When it's hot, eat a root beer, a popsicle _

_ Shut off the AC and roll the windows down _

_ Let that summer sun shine _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

_ Don't take for granted the love this life gives you _

_ When you get where you're goin' _

_ Don't forget turn back around _

_ Help the next one in line _

_ Always stay humble and kind _

 

When the last note dies in the air Gwen feels time stops for a brief second before the crowd erupts applauding them. The floor section lights up and a sea of people appear in front of their eyes, some of them are up on their feet, some cheer for them from their seat and Blake sees his buddy Luke in the first row, jumping up and down.  _ Such a drama queen.  _ But he loves the guy and his reaction makes him happy. Blake’s head turns to look at Gwen as she tries to catch her breath while being completely taken aback by the response of the crowd. He watches her close her eyes and nod to herself, thinking that maybe she is taking a brief few seconds to talk to herself. There is something about her right this moment that has him completely hypnotized. Maybe it’s the light shining on her which exalts all the features on her face, the way her smile grows or even how happy and relieved she looks, in contrast to how nervous she looked before jumping on the stage. He steps off of the stool, places his guitar on the floor and claps to and for her which seems to burst her bubble and her head spins to find him on his feet bowing down to her.

_ Wow, okay.  _

_ Think fast, Gwen.  _

She places her mic on the stool and then brings her hands up to applaud him as well. She will admit to being worried because he hadn’t been very cooperative in the morning, but he had slowly dropped the tough and kind of irritating performance to show off a more sensitive and easygoing self. From the corner of her eyes, she sees the camera travel in front of them as she smiles at him and returns the bow. Time seems to hang when his eyes stay on hers as a voice erupts out of nowhere saying that there’s a five-minute commercial break. Just like that their bubble is burst and their gazes part ways as their hands come down to their sides. 

He opens his mouth to say something but closes it again when he finds no words. He feels so weird because Blake Shelton always knows what to say, he always manages to get words out. Seeing that there’s nothing left for him to do, he takes one last look at the audience that immediately regrets because his eyes fall on  _ her  _ of all people. The person he had wanted to avoid spotting in a sea of people.  _Goddamnit_ . He feels his heart shatter into a million pieces inside his chest and everything he had wanted to avoid feeling hits him without warning. It’s hurt, betray, but most of all anger. 

Gwen almost has to follow him off the stage because one moment he is smiling at the crowd and the next he is halfway across the stage leaving a very confused duet partner all alone in the spotlight. Gwen mouths one last thank you to the audience and then walks out at a normal pace. As soon as Blake gets to the backstage he gets stopped by one of the tech guys but he says something to him with a not so friendly look on his face and the poor guy with headphones lets him walk away. She thinks about running to him, afraid to be the cause of his sudden reaction, but when she gives it a second thought she realizes that he will have to come talk to her if anything. She ain’t running to him, if he has a problem he better walk forward and let her know. 

 

Gwen smiles at the tech guy and gives him the mic and then lets him carefully unhook the wires attached to her jumpsuit which fall all the way down her back from her ears where she also takes off the earpieces and hands them over. 

“You both sounded incredible.” The young man speaks up when Gwen is about to take off. 

“Thank you.” She says gratefully. She has to bite her tongue to not ask about Blake so she just nods at the guy and walks through the crowded backstage murmuring  _ thank yous _ to everyone who congratulates her.

When there comes a moment to enter the seating area again or go to the toilet to take some time to herself, Gwen thinks that she needs time off before sitting down beside strangers and applaud people she doesn’t know anything about. She doesn’t want to feel lonely in the crowd, she prefers to feel lonely in the quietness of the ladies room as she talks to herself in the mirror in different voice tones to make it look as if she were talking to another person. 

 

She asks for directions to a young girl that has to take a deep breath before replying. 

“Sorry, I’m a huge fan.” Her hands shake as she moves them around in the air. “This is so embarrassing, I’m so-“ 

Gwen giggles and places her hand on the girls’ shoulder, “Not embarrassing.” She adds a smile that hopes make her look less of a famous person and just some random woman you meet on the street and asks for directions. “You know what we should do?” The girl, mesmerized, shakes her head, “Take a picture. Do you have your phone with you?” 

 

She smiles to herself as she says goodbye to Martha and makes her way to the toilet at the end of the corridor to the right. When she gets to the white door she takes a deep breath and opens it hoping to find it empty but all her plans shatter on the floor when she sees a few women talking and queuing up. She doesn’t even excuse herself, she closes the door and lets out a sigh. She will have to go through an awards ceremony and pretend she doesn’t want to run home. 

_ Good. _

When she gets back to the theatre, a young man accompanies her to her seat. She watches the woman that Blake had introduced her to, and her band, take the stage to sing a song she finds herself bobbing her head to. After that, a duo collects an award and then a girl takes the stage to sing a powerful ballad that has her going through million emotions until the next performance begins and a light shines down on a tall figure that she recognizes immediately. 

_ Blake.  _ She had forgotten he had to take the stage again. He seems to look happier, or maybe he is just a good actor. His song is probably called _Gonna_ and it tells a story that does not match the sad looking Blake she had met this morning. She'd met a quiet, reserved Blake, not the flirty and charming person he was greatly portraying on the stage with his guitar falling off of his body. 

Most of the sea of people stand up to applaud him as he pulls off a smile and bows down a few times and applauds his band as well. With his head down, he makes his way backstage again and Gwen loses him again. 

  
  


She doesn’t see him until she walks into the after party. She had walked over with a music producer that had admitted to being a huge fan and had also given her his card for a “near future”. Gwen, of course, had nodded and put the card in her purse. She sees Blake talking to a tall guy, that looks a little younger than him, near the bar section. She wants to ignore him like he had ignored her after their song, but she is tired of not knowing what to do, tired of feeling alone. The easy thing would be to check her phone and pretend to have something important to read or text but her damn device had died on her about an hour ago. She takes a breath and walks up to the only “friendly” face in a crowded room. 

She’s thinking about ways to crash the talk the two guys have going on and she’s getting close and she has nothing. She thinks about turning around, she doesn’t want to just walk up to Blake and awkwardly stand as she tries to keep up with a conversation she knows she’s probably not welcome to. 

“Gwen.” His soft voice suddenly ends her internal monologue, making her head snap up to meet his calming blue eyes. “Are you okay?”

She nods and then her eyes meet the tux wearing guy standing next to Blake. She offers him a small smile and then looks back at her friendly faced duet partner again. “Good.” She says still standing a bit far away. There’s a brief moment of silence in which his friend hits his side making Blake ouch. She cannot hear the words they share but she does catch a murmured “come on” and then Blake’s eyes are back at her again. He takes a step forward and tilts his head back to invite her over to come closer. “Hi, I’m Luke.” Blake’s friend introduces himself to break the almost uncomfortable silence. 

“Gwen.” She says graciously. 

“I know.” He offers her a toothed smile, “You were amazing by the way.” 

“Well, I...” she starts nervously, “Thank you.” From the corner of her eyes, she sees Blake fidget and press his lips together. He’s being so awkward. 

“I know what it is to sing with this guy,” Luke hits Blake again, this time playfully and manages to steal a small barely there smile from the country singer. “You outdid him. That’s a lot cos he’s Blake Shelton, you know! Hard to beat country’s A-list.” 

Blake shakes his head but also chuckles at the compliment, “Actually, she didn’t know who I was until this morning.” Blake adds making Gwen throw a death glare his way. “But I guess that if someone has to outdo me, it’s flattering that it’s you.” Now he's back to charming again, making Gwen’s brain spin with his mood swings. 

The conversation shifts to the nominees and winners and Gwen is back to nodding and trying to recall all the people that had jumped up the stage. 

“That girl that you introduced me to, she was amazing.” She adds when both Blake and Luke ask her her thoughts of the night. 

“Karen,” Blake adds to help Luke follow up. 

“Their band. They sound beautiful.” 

“In my opinion, they’re the best group at the moment.” Luke adds, “Good people too.” 

Soon enough Luke is being stolen away by some guy in a cowboy hat and the duet partners are left alone by the bar. 

Gwen wets her lips and then lets her back rest against the wood counter. “Can I get you anything?” A male voice coming from behind makes Gwen turn her head to a handsome young man standing behind the counter all dressed in black. 

“I uhm-“ her eyes shift to Blake and then back to the barman as she nods, “Gin tonic?” 

“Sure.” The guy nods throwing a smile into the mix. “For you, Sir?” 

Blake looks over his shoulder and then shakes his head. 

 

As the barman walks to the other side of the counter to get the tonic, Gwen teases Blake. “What, you don’t drink at nighttime?” She waits for a teasing response to match hers but Blake stays quiet, making her have to check if he’s still there. 

“What?” Blake shakes his head incredulously. 

Gwen’s teasing smile banishes from her face as she moves uncomfortably beside him. “It’s just- this morning when we met, you...”

“I had a rough night.”

Gwen presses her lips together when she finds no response to his admission. Her eyes scan the room that is little by little filling up with people she doesn’t recognize. 

“Why did you accept to sing?” His question takes her by surprise as it breaks the silence between them. “I mean, it’s obvious that you know very little about country music yet-“

“I needed to-“ she begins to say but quickly shakes her head lightly, “I like challenges.” She admits, “My manager convinced me, that’s another part of it.” 

“Oh-kay.” 

“I felt like doing something outside of my box would be a good idea.” She begins to explain but then someone calls for her behind the counter and she finds the charming bartender with her drink, “thank you.” She takes a sip and turns around to lean her back against the wooden surface again, “and LA was getting too much so I decided to take a mini break.” 

“You live in LA?”

“Yep.” 

“Good.” Blake nods silently. 

“What about you?” Gwen asks. 

“Room 365 at The Hilton.” He blurts it out jokingly but soon enough realizes how lonely that sounds and suddenly feels the urge to take off again. 

“No, I mean, usually where do you live? You sound southern.” Gwen chuckles at his joke thinking that he was talking about these few days of the awards. 

“Lately, room 365 at The Hilton downtown.” His voice is insecure as he speaks and Gwen doesn’t know what to think. She doesn’t want to overstep but at the same time, she is curious to know why he lives at a hotel. 

“Well, at least you don’t have to make the bed.” She tries to ease the uncomfortable atmosphere building around them hoping to maybe make him laugh a little bit, but she gets no response from him whatsoever. “I’m trying-“ she takes a deep breath before continuing, “To be friendly and I don’t know, keep a normal conversation but when-“

“Gwen-“

“No.” She cuts him off, “I don’t know anyone in here, you’re the only kind of friendly face so-“

“It’s not an easy night for me.” He decides to use a gentler tone to try and ease the tension. 

“Everyone I have met talks about you as the king of this thing, how can it not be easy?“ 

She hears him take the deepest breath and then a couple of seconds to regain his thoughts. She has turned completely to him, her drink long forgotten on the counter. She places her elbow on the wooden surface and lets her side rest against the counter while she watches the wheels turn inside Blake’s head as he keeps his eyes on the people entering through the door. He closes them and then breathes out tired, “I uhm-“ he begins, “You haven’t googled me yet, have you?” His head slightly turns to her and she shakes her head in response. “Now would be a good time to do so.” He says as his eyes fall back to the entrance to watch  _ her,  _ the cause of all his troubles and insecurities, walk through the door with a guy he knew she was dating. Miranda had moved on while he still drowned his sorrows in alcohol and little much sleep. 

“My phone died.” 

“Oh.”

“What’s going on?” She just wants to know a bit about him and why he is acting weird at times. 

“I’ve been-“ he runs a hand through his hair and shifts his gaze to her before continuing, “You will still google me later so I’m just going to go ahead and tell you before you read all the lies on the magazines.” 

“See the girl walking through the door with-“ he cannot even describe  _ her _ date. It hurts _so_ much. Gwen looks away from him and then nods when she finds a blonde hair entering the room, “I can’t even-“ he exhales loudly and then grabs her drink on the counter and takes a big sip that feels amazing down his throat. Gwen doesn’t question his action, she lets him be and do. “Not long ago we both had wedding bands on our fingers.” Gwen frowns, not quite following his story, “We were married.” 

_ Oh.  _

“For four years.” From the corner of her eyes, she sees him close his eyes forcefully and tilt his head down when the young man accompanying his ex-wife kisses her head sweetly.  

“She got an award tonight,” Gwen recalls seeing her walk up the stage at least once. 

“She’s a big deal.” He admits, “Some people have told you I am the king of this thing? That could be debatable, but-” Gwen nods, “Well, she’s the queen.” Gwen stays quiet by his side, taking in the new information, “It’s hard to see her, to be in the same room and-“

“I understand.” Blake thanks god she cuts him off because he wasn’t quite sure what else to say. He didn’t want to share too many details with a person he had just met, even if she looked like the most down to earth and ready to listen person. “I understand” she repeats again, this time with a lower tone that leaves Blake wondering. 

A comfortable silence surrounds them as they both lean their backs against the counter. “Your solo performance was so good.” Gwen tries to get back to safe territory and find a way to not spill all her divorce details to him.  _ You don’t know him, Gwen. _ She keeps telling herself over and over again. 

“You saw me?” She nods. “Thank you.” He mutters under his breath. 

 

Someone steals Blake away after they had begun a comfortable conversation in which he had told some funny stories about previous CMA shows and she had found herself enjoying his stories and the way he moved his hands as he talked. His dimples dipped on his face and his smile and chuckle as he talked were making her a little nervous as she stared shamelessly. A guy had come up and had stolen him away without introducing himself and Blake had found himself being dragged away from her company. He had turned his head to watch her as his producer friend held tight on his arm. 

 

She’s alone sipping her gin tonic as she takes a look around. These people seem like a family and she doesn’t really feel welcome. Her only friendly face disappeared between the tuxes and the dresses and she really doesn’t know what to do to entertain herself other than drink. She’s not that much of a drinker either, so she thinks about leaving. 

“Hey.” A southern male voice interrupts her escape plan. She turns her head to find the guy she had met at the photocall and had saved her disastrous Blake trivia quiz. “Brett, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah sure.” She did remember him, not his name. “What’s up?”

“You look very alone so I came to the rescue.” He flashes a smile and Gwen shyly smiles against her glass after sipping a bit of her drink. “How are you liking the CMAs?” 

“They’re fun.” She tries to fake her tone but Brett catches her lie. 

“Right.” He ironically laughs and then asks for a whiskey. 

“It’s just, I know no one and I really dislike being alone.” 

“I can introduce you to some people if you want.” 

Gwen offers him a smile and then shakes her head, “I think I’ll just head out, but thank you.” 

“Come on! There’s gotta be something I could do to make you stay.” 

Gwen thinks about it and then gives in, “Is there a place to get food? I’m starving.” 

 

She learns a bit about this Brett person the fifteen minutes they spend together; she also learns a bit about country music and his influences, one of them being Blake. She laughs along with his jokes and finds herself admiring the way he talks about her duet partner. A duet partner she hasn’t seen in a while and who is trying to look for without making it very obvious to the young gentleman entertaining her. 

“I went to a No Doubt gig once.” That catches her attention, “Here in Nashville.” 

“You did not!” Gwen lets out a little laugh as she takes another sip of her second drink of the night. 

“I did!” He admits, hand on his heart, “There was this girl I liked. She was and still is, I guess, a big fan of you.” 

“Oh… There’s always a lady huh?” She finds herself teasing this guy and she’ll just blame it on the alcohol running inside her body. 

“I had a great time! You were all so entertaining.”

“Well, thank you.” 

“Brett! Brett! Where are you, man?” A voice coming from the speakers breaks their conversation as Brett chokes on his drink when his name is called out. “Get on the stage boy!” Until this time neither of them had realized a small stage had been set by the bar for whoever wanted to perform a bit. 

That’s how Gwen watches the second friendly face walk away from her.

_ Great.  _

 

 

A producer he cannot remember the name off shamelessly drags him across the room and makes him establish a conversation with some tuxedo-wearing people he has no interest in talking to. To be honest, he never wanted to come to the awards this particular year and the reason why is standing at the other side of the room with a young guy hanging off her arm. But he orders his first, and not last, drink of the night and pulls off a smile for the sake of his career. 

He finds himself recalling his performance with Gwen halfway the boring conversation he was forced to be a part of. She had woken up something in him that he wasn’t quite sure of. She made him feel secure about himself again and all he had done in return had been walking out of her twice this evening. He nods and laughs when all the other men do but his eyes are slowly scanning the room looking for her particular platinum hair. He sees her laughing with Brett Eldredge and he will deny feeling a little jealous but truth is, he wants nothing more than to walk over and join heir conversation and try to come up with funnier jokes than Brett just to catch her attention. He goes back to the conversation when he hears his name being called out by one of the fancy guys. He tries to keep it professional for a few minutes until he hears Brett’s name being called on the speakers and then watches him walk away from Gwen making her lower her drink to her waist level and look down. 

“You’ll have to excuse me.” He says catching the attention of all the men around him, “It was nice to talk to all of you.” Like that he leaves and he hears a few Blake’s being called out but he just has one mission right now and that is to stop being a jerk to a person that has done nothing wrong to him. He realizes that blaming things on the alcohol and on Miranda will get him nowhere and Gwen was starting to make him feel comfortable in this awkward night. 

He doesn’t tap her shoulder or calls out her name, he just stands close to her, his eyes to the bottles of alcohol on the wall and arms resting on the counter. She doesn’t seem to notice his presence, so he just speaks out. 

“I have Don’t Speak downloaded on my phone.” She looks up a little startled and then raises her eyebrows to him, “I was looking through heartbreak playlists and it was the first song in many of them.” She’s tongue-tied, searching for an appropriate response but comes up empty. She doesn’t know what he expects or what he needs right now, but she’s speechless and not the good kind. What she is sure of is that this man right here is broken, you have to be to look for heartbreak songs on Spotify. Heartbroken or very lonely. Maybe he is both. “I could only name  _ Don’t Speak _ if you asked me to tell what I know about you. Oh and the Bananas one!” Gwen chuckles at that last addition to the list but when his barely-there smile turns to a flat press of lips, she puts on a straight face as well. He turns around to pace the floor for a few long seconds and Gwen stays in silence watching him. She knows he is not finished, that he wants to talk some more and she’s willing to give him time because that’s what she had wanted all the long summer nights when no one was there to listen and she didn’t want to bother her sister-in-law any longer. “I’m sorry for being a complete jerk.” When she begins to shake her head Blake continues, “Don’t. I was and I apologize if I’m not too late.”

“Apology accepted.” 

“So, let’s start again?” Gwen puts her drink aside and turns to him completely, “Blake Shelton.”

“Who?” She burst out laughing at his panic face and then shakes her head and teasingly touches his arm, “Hi, Blake.” 

“Nice to meet you, Gwen.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought. Thank you for reading! :)


	4. Airport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 84 years, I know... I'm so sorry, but I really don't have much time to write.

 

“You don’t want to be here, huh?” Her soft voice breaks the comfortable since that appears when they let go of each other’s hands after their “let’s start again” handshake.

Blake shrugs and presses his lips together, “I didn’t at first. I didn’t even want to come to the damn thing.”

“You can go if you wa-”

“No, I-“ he cuts her off, “I think I can manage a bit more. I’m having a good time so far.” He pulls off a small dimpled smile that has Gwen softly beaming back at him. “I just don’t-,” he breathes out and then leans his back against the counter, no longer facing her completely. He closes his eyes for a moment and then turns his head to look down at her, “I don’t want to see her.”

“I know.” He wants to ask how she knows, if she’s just saying it to make him feel better of because she knows how he really feels. Something tells him she’s been in his shows before but he doesn’t dare to ask. “It’s completely understandable.”

“Yeah?” He asks quietly.

“Sure. Healing takes time.”

“It’s been four months since we signed the divorce papers.” He explains and Gwen listens. “Divorce.” He breathes out as he runs a hand through his face, “Sorry, you don’t want to listen to my divorce drama.”

Her hand reaches up to softly touch his arm and Blake’s eyes shoot up, “It’s okay.”

“No, this is a party. We’re supposed to have fun.” She then nods and decides not push it. “I liked the song you sang.” She says after a bit too long silence pause that was starting to get awkward. 

“ _ Gonna _ ? Yeah, I like that song.”

“Well you wouldn’t have written it if you didn’t!” She lets out a small laugh at the end almost in a duh tone.

Blake looks down at his boots and quietly says, “I didn’t. I didn’t write it.”

“Oh. Well it’s still a good song.”

“That’s because I didn’t write it.” Blake says almost letting out a laugh at the end to make it look like it didn’t affect him.

“What do you mean?” She turns to face him as she holds onto her drink.

The male singer shakes his head and huffs before responding, “I am not a good songwriter. I’m a singer, that’s all I am.” Her mouth opens in a small o-shaped form as she also frowns at him, “They send me songs, if I like them, I record them.”

“But that’s…” She begins to say but he cuts her off.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it is not. You don’t get to sing what you’re feeling.”

“I choose the songs that mean something to me.”

“Do you wish they’d let you write?”

He stays quiet for a few seconds as he breathes in and then out, slowly. “I...” he palms the back of his head and then looks at his boots. “I’m not good at it.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.” It comes out a bit harsh and he quickly apologizes for his tone, “Sorry, I...”

“I shouldn’t have pushed.” Gwen feels like taking a step back to show that she feels bad for going a bit too far. “I don’t even know your music and here I am making-“ his hand on her upper arm quiets her. Her head turns to the spot where his hand meets her skin and intentionally her lips part to let something out but she’s empty. She feels a funny sensation run through her arm, making her fidget with her feet.

“It’s fine, Gwen. Don’t worry so much.” She knows she is way too used to apologizing and that she should feel more confident with herself, but twenty years with someone who has never really made her feel strong or powerful (at least of the stage) isn’t great for her self-esteem. “Seriously, it’s okay.” He repeats when he visualizes the flat and almost embarrassed look on her face, “No worries.”

“It’s not the same, Blake.” She says in a more serious and steady tone.

“Can we just-“

“Drop it?” He nods shyly, “Yes, sor-“

“No more sorrys tonight. At least coming from you.” A small barely there grin appears under his nose as he looks at her.

“So,” she tries to cheer up their almost awkward atmosphere, “what do you normally do in these parties?”

“Drink.” He blunts out rapidly.

“Yet, I don’t see you drinking.”

“Yeah...”

“What do you want? I’m buying.” She asks in a teasing tone.

Blake giggles, “You do realise that drinks are free, right? Us country hunks don’t make as much as you pop people.” His tone lets her know that he is just teasing back and that makes her laugh and even tilt her head back a little bit.

“Pop people?” She pushes biting down her lower lip as her eyebrows raise.

“Yeah you know, la la la...” He is just mocking her because he senses she needs a fun and laid back evening, he just hopes he is not pushing too far and she is one of those people that appreciate jokes. It works because her laugh carries on and it might just be his new favourite sound. “I’ll have vodka and seven up.”

Her laugh immediately stops as she bring her eyes to his in the dimmed room, “Seven up?” She can’t hide the chuckle that comes out of her mouth.

“It’s delicious. You need to get one with me. I want you to have the Blake Shelton experience, I am the brand ambassador for Smithworks Vodka after all.” He shows off jokingly.

“Blake Shelton experience? Sounds like you’re a tour bus guide.”

Blake smiles down at her as she brings the last sip of her gin tonic to her lips. “I can be. After all you’re the new person around here.”

“Well, you’re wearing a vest. You’re just missing the name tag.”

Blake clears his throat and puts his fist up pretending to have a mic, “Hi,” he begins, “My name is Blake and I’ll be your guide tonight.”

Gwen blurts out laughing and unintentionally leans towards him as if he was the point of gravity. Thank god her eyes are closed because he wouldn’t have wanted her to see him gulp and freeze at her hand on his chest. He tries to keep casual the fact that she just leaned over to him, gracefully invading his space, making his heart stop for a few seconds in the process.

“You’re funny.” She says when her laugh dies but her head’s still down staring at their feet.

Truth to be told, he hasn’t felt this laid back or in the mood to be silly in a long time that now that his silly comments blurt out almost unintentionally makes him wonder if all he needed through these miserable last months was the right person to be truly himself with.

“Are you with me?” Her voice breaks his reflection phase and he shakes his thoughts away and then meets her anxious eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I am. Sorry, I’m back.”

“So, drink?” She asks and he nods happily.

For the next hour he shows her around the room. He names people that are important and then figuretably steps aside when people come up to her and introduce themselves. He learns that she needs no introduction when the third person that comes up to them — mainly to her–, drop an  _ I know _ . He presses his lips together and silently nods. Of course he was aware that everyone knows who Gwen Stefani is but there was something about him being able to say “She’s Gwen Stefani” that just made him happy inside. He rolls his eyes when a producer starts naming her whole discography and he can tell that she is a little freaked out as well because somewhere in the 2000s, their eyes meet and she uncomfortably raises her eyebrows at him.

“That was so weird.” She says once the man takes off saying that he needs to go the toilet. “Not even I know my whole discography like that.”

“You don’t?” He asks in a teasing tone.

“He knew even how many songs and singles we had out in each album.”

“A little creepy, yeah.” Blake adds before taking his last sip of his vodka and seven up mix.

“Talking about creepy fans, I met a Blake Shelton super fan at the red carpet.” She spins her head his way as she puts her drink on a high table. He looks at her questionably, “A red carpet I didn’t see you at by the way.”

“I avoided it. Too big of a possibility for reporters to ask questions I don’t want to give answers to.“ He explains. “And questions I’m just not ready to face yet, you know?”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

He nods at her, “Who did you meet?”

“Brett, uhm- something.”

He chuckles when she burrows her eyes brows, “Eldredge.”

“That one!” She exclaims, “So this interviewer comes at me saying that she’s going to test my Blake Shelton knowledge and I.. panicked.”

“You didn’t know I existed until this morning, it’s only fair.” He adds with a laugh.

“I’m sorry about that, as well.”

“What did we say about apologizing?” His knees buckle a bit to meet her line of vision.

“No more.”

He nods and puts his thumb up, “So tell me about this Blake Trivia.”

“She asked me about an album of yours and where were you from, also how many categories you were up for.”

“How many did you get right?” He pushes showing off his dimples.

“One.” Gwen chuckles, “Two categories.” She proudly says putting two fingers up.

“Zero awards though.” He fakes a pout.

“Brett answered that you were from Oklahoma for me. I had seen him just minutes before at the photocall.”

“Yeah well, he’s easy on the eyes.”

“And way too young as well.” Gwen quickly adds. She will admit it, the guy was indeed easy on the eyes but he was barely thirty.

“I saw you talking to him before.” Her eyes lock on his for a few seconds of silence in which Blake looks away, kind of intimidated by her mind reading. “That’s cool though.” He says patting his chest. “I did get stolen away and left you all alone. I don’t blame the guy from trying to get to know you.”

“Get to know me?” She teases, “Is that what you’re-“ She stops halfway when she looks up to see that he ain’t paying attention to her. She’s about to softly hit him to gain his attention back but she follows his line of vision to see that his ex-wife is clinging on the arms of a tall younger man. She can see his world crumbling down on his eyes as these fall closes in defeat and pain. “Blake-“

He storms out.  _ Again _ . Just like he had done on stage.

 

Now she gets it. His eyes must’ve fallen on her that time as well and too scared to face reality — or face her altogether, he had run. Just like now.

Her eyes meet the blonde’s just a few steps from her and Gwen holds her stare not really knowing what to do. The other woman smiles cockily at her and then continues her drunk stroll along with the guy that Blake had say was her date. All of these happens in a matter of seconds so once the cocky stranger is out of her sight, Gwen spins on her feet to see Blake’s curly pepper hair make its way in between people that try to get his attention but he politely brushes them off. She loses him somewhere at the very end of the dimmed room, but she does see a crystal door open and a tall person close it behind them and since he’s pretty much the tallest person she has ever met, she decides to walk towards the door that she believes leads to a terrace with a view. A perfect spot to just disappear for a while. She’s been on one of those before, she had also ran away to get her thoughts together some years ago when in New York, with a very drunk and near disgusting almost recently ex-husband. She shakes those images away as she walks towards the exit and takes a deep breath before opening the door.

 

She wasn’t wrong, the city of Nashville appears under her feet as a light breeze gazes her skin making her shiver and hug her arms around her.

She doesn’t try to verbally get his attention, all the contrary, she walks over to where he is, almost too near the rail of the building. And then she waits.

He sighs loudly and crunches over letting his hands fall on the rail to support him up, “I used to love that person.” He breathes out almost painfully. “So much.” She takes a deep breath and thinks to herself that she knows exactly what he is going through. “Now I can’t even say her name.” He tries to hide a sob when he breathes out loudly but Gwen is too much of an expert to let that slide. She has tried that move before, way too many times, and only her sister-in-law could read her to catch it. She can read Blake, not entirely, but right now he needs a support system and she is ready to be that pole to lean on, if he needs it.

“I get it. It hurts. It’s like someone smashes your heart on concrete whenever you think and talk about them.” She begins, “And you feel like you don’t have tears left in your system but then they come out a the most random moment, even sometimes when you’re not even thinking about them. Sometimes you just need to cry and crawl into a ball at the corner of some place. And that is okay.”

Slowly, he spins around to meet her eyes and she can spot a mixture of his sadness and sympathy for her words. His mouth opens in a little o-shaped form, and he wonders if he should or shouldn’t asks why she knows exactly how he feels. “I uhm-“

“I’ve heart my share of broken hearts.” She adds bluntly.

“Plural?” He asks leaning away from the rail .

“Yeah.”

“Is there another masterful break up song like  _ Don’t Speak _ out there that I haven’t heard?” He wonders almost in a comic-teasing tone.

She thinks about it twice before replying but he is being honest with her, so she should at least be the same with him. “Soon enough, yeah.” The words comes out as she lowers her head to the black stilettos on her feet.

“Soon as in,” he begins, “some idiot broke your heart not long ago?”

“Idiot?” She questions him, meeting his gaze.

“Complete idiot.”

She giggles at that, thinking that is cute how high he thinks of her after just meeting this morning.

“I recently got my heart broken as well,” She says timidly.

“Sorry, we don’t have to talk about it.“

“You talked about it. I feel like I should be equally honest with you.”

He shakes his head, “No. Just because I can’t keep my mouth shut doesn’t mean you have to be the same. We all share information when we are ready to do so.” He explains calmly, “There’s something about you. Sometimes you feel more comfortable talking to a complete stranger than to your best friend. There is something about knowing only your name and a tiny little bit of your life that makes me feel comfortable. It’s weird and I shouldn’t feel that way but...“ he rolls off at the end not really know what else to say. Silence takes over them for what feels like forever as Blake takes a deep breath and Gwen tries to swallow his words.

“You know, and I’m sorry for opening a subject that we closed before, but if you’re this honest talking, you should definitely write more songs. We could all use your honesty. There are a million people out there feeling like this,” she draws a circle around both of them, “and your words would definitely help them.” He opens his mouth to say something but she continues before he can cut her off, “It’s also therapeutic.” He draws a smile on his face and softly shakes his head “It truly is. If you don’t want to write songs maybe just write a diary.”

“I don’t know...”

“You’ll never know until you try.” She comments quietly.

“Why are you trying so hard for me to write songs?”

She takes a few seconds to respond, “Because I was on that stage when you sang  _ Humble and Kind _ and you sang it as you had written it yourself. Why? Because the words meant something to you.”

“You also said I looked happy singing  _ Gonna _ and I have nothing to relate the words to at the moment.”

“Songs take you places.  _ Gonna _ might not be you right now but it was you at some point. Maybe it will be you in a near future. When you sang the words, you where there and not in the present time.“ She explains, “I bet that if I asked you to sing a song right now you’d go for another one.”

He tilts his head down as he presses his lips together. She’s right. Why is it about this woman that can read him like an open book? It should be scaring him but all the contrary, he’s warming up to her words and encouragement little by little as the night goes by.

“It’s scary.” He murmurs turning around to face the town at their feet.

“What is?” Gwen asks staring at his broad back.

“You. You read me so well and I don’t know how to feel about it.”

She surpasses a chuckle and then meets him by the rail. She turns her head to stare at his stubbly jaw, “A minute ago I was comfortable and now I’m scary?” She asks trying not to let her teasing tone betray her.

She stares at his dimples as they carve into his skin and his eyes twitch and finally a small chuckle breaks free. “I’m glad we met.” He says once his eyes meet hers in the dimmed outside space. “Even though I was a complete jerk this morning.”

“A bit, yeah.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m just glad it wasn’t because of me. I thought you-“

“Oh, no- no. I just had a rough night yesterday. I was at this party and everywhere I looked saw her. Luke, my best friend, made me go to loosen up a little bit but I just couldn’t. She looks happy and free and I can’t even sleep.”

“We should leave.” She begins, “It’s not like my life will change if I stay in this party. I have socialized already, so my job is done.”

“You want to go?” She nods, “Okay, so it was uhm nice meeting you-“

“No, I mean we should. Both of us. You don’t want to be here, you said it yourself this morning.”

“Oh, I-“ he touches the back of his head as he thinks things through, “Yeah, okay. Where do you want to go?”

“First I would like to change. It’s cold.” She says rubbing her arms. Blake stands still for a moment and then quickly starts to take off his jacket, “No, no I’m fine. Don’t-“ It’s too late, because the soft inside fabric of his blazer touches her shoulders and she immediately feels better. “Thank you.” She says eyeing up at him. His black vest hugs him in all the right places and part of her wants to just step closer and let him wrap his arms aro-

_ Stop it, Gwen _ . She tells herself. He looks like one of those people that give amazingly warming hugs. Stop.

“I’m at the Hilton as well.” She says shaking away the temptation of his body hugging hers.

“Good, amazing...” he babbles, “Great, I mean. That’s great.” She frowns at him as a smile dances on her face, “Shall we?”

They leave the party through the back door, as Blake suggests and they get in different cars and take different routes back to the hotel. 

 

 

When he enters the hotel lobby, he spots Gwen talking to the young man behind the counter. He sees the card on her fingers but she doesn’t look uncomfortable or eager to leave the conversation she’s taking part of so he just takes a moment to watch her as she casually talks with the hotel employee. About two minutes later, the phone rings and the young man excuses himself and Gwen waves goodbye.

He raises his hand looking for the inside pocket of his blazer, to take out his card, to realise that she’s still wearing his blazer and god damn, she pulls it off well! He silently walks to the elevators as she climbs the three stairs to the same direction and casually stands behind him as he presses the up button. “My key is in the inside pocket of my blazer.” His dimples come out on full display as his index finger points at the piece of clothing hanging around her shoulders.

“Oh, oh I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

The elevator signs its arrival as Gwen nods at him murmuring a last  _ I’m sorry _ . They get inside the squared box and before they know it the doors close and silence takes over them. Some seconds pass by until Blake realises that one of them better click a button for the lift to move.

“Which floor are you-“

“Four.” She replies before he has time to finish the question.

God this is awkward. And she still has his blazer on.

He presses four and then looks down at his feet trying to come up with something interesting to break the uncomfortable silence that has established between them.

She watches as the 1 button lights up and then the 2. “Blake?”

_ Oh, thank god. _

He draws a smile on his face as he lifts his head up and slightly turns his head to the right to look at her. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

She sees the 3 button light up.

“Being a friendly face tonight. I was scared to be lonely.”

“I was too. So I guess thank you for accepting to sing with Tim.” The door open on her floor and he steps aside for her to exit the squared box. “See you around, Gwen.”

He know he won’t see her around but still, it feels like the right thing to say. She draws a soft half smile on her face and then removes his jacket from her shoulders to give it back to him.

She exits the lift gazing her shoulder with his rolled up shirt and Blake feels like he needs to come up with something, as stupid as it may be, just to have her stay a little longer. To not let her slip off his fingers. She turns around as the doors of the elevator begin to close and speaks up as Blake moves to the side to not lose her behind the metal surface, “Blake I,”

He should have stopped the doors from closing. “Idiot.” He grunts to himself. “Fuck!” He smashes the metal too hard as the sound retumbles in his ears. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He says urgently.

He doesn’t know if he imagines it or not but an  _ okay _ fills his ears as the lift starts to go up. He imagines it’s just going to stop in the next floor, but it seems like like his dreams get crushed when the metal box starts to go up, and as much as he tries to press the buttons of the floor coming up next, the lift seems to be taken under a spell. To take him as further as possible from floor 4.

He ends up on the top floor only to see the two people that had probably pressed the button, get inside another elevator. “Oh my fucking god, for real?” He curses letting loose his tie a little bit. When the doors begin to close again he presses the number four a few times as if this way the lift would get to the destination faster. “Fucking Christ.” He lets his back collide against one side as his eyes close and he takes a deep breath.

Before he knows it the doors open again and he rapidly looks up to see that he is on the fourth floor again and she’s still waiting for him, right where he had last seen her, about two minutes ago. “Hey.” He tries to sound as cool and calm as possible.

“You curse loudly, you know.”

“Wasn’t me.” He tries to get away with it as a naughty kid-like smile appear on his face making his dimples pop on his cheeks.

“Right.” Gwen giggles, “what took you so long?”

“Damn elevator took me on a trip to the moon and back.”

“How is it up there?” She teases.

“Lonely. I like it here better.” He's kind of afraid he said more that he should’ve but when a white toothed smile draws on her face, he feels his heart makes a happy dance. “So uhm- wh... what should we do?” He bounces on his feet.

“Well, I figured that since you live here, you could show me around.”

“Here as in the hotel or the city? Cos I live in both.”

“Well, I was thinking the city but-“

“There’re some quite interesting places in this hotel as well, if you may know.” He points out.

“Yeah well, Nashville sounds more appealing than a hotel. Either way, we could explore the hotel later on.” He shifts his gaze to the elevator and then back to her as he bites the inside of his cheek nervously, “So uhm- Do you still want to go change or...?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, meet at the lobby in, let’s say,” he checks his wrist, even though he’s not wearing a clock, just to get a reaction from her, and it works because Gwen chuckles and playfully hits his arm. “Fifteen minutes?”

“I can do ten.”

“Ten it is.”

 

 

Surprisingly, he finds her at the lobby already when the elevator doors open. He raises his eyebrows at her and she does the same back. She changed to dark skinny jeans and a white shirt covered by a cardigan that falls over her body beautifully. She has a jacket hanging off of her arm and her phone and an external battery on her hand.

“Cleaned up nice.” He says once he is close enough.

“Thanks.”

“And fast too.” He adds before he points to the front door of the hotel, “Shall we?”

He carefully places his hand on the middle of her back as Gwen takes the first step.

He moves aside to let her walk through the door first and somehow that small gesture makes her feel special.

“I didn’t know if you wanted to walk or-“ He stops when they reach a dark blue truck, “But I asked for them to bring out my car, which has been collecting dust at the hotel’s garage. “Maybe driving is better since this is a big city and stuff.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He opens the passenger’s door for her, yet again, and she realises how much she had missed little gestures like that.

He drives around town naming places and people she doesn’t really know, but she listens carefully to every word he says. He looks happy, excited and for the first time since she met him, carefree. He mentions the bar he worked at when he first arrived in Nashville in 1994 and she cuts him off when years don’t add up.

“How old were you in 94?” She asks turning to face him as he stops on a red light.

“Eighteen.” He chuckles as she watches her rapidly do the maths. “I’m 39.” He adds making Gwen’s eyes pop open. “Thanks for hiding the surprised reaction.” He adds faking a pout.

“Thirty-nine?” Her high pitched voice steals a beam from his face.

“I know I look younger.” He teases stealing a chuckle from her. “You’re more or less my age I guess so-“ Her head shaking cuts him off.

“I’m waaaay older.”

“Nah, don’t believe you.”

“I am.”

“Impossible.”

“I really am.”

 

 

About five minutes later he pulls off in front of a 24 hours supermarket and once the engine is off he turns to her, “Well, if I’m going to show you around we have to do it the Nashville style. I’ll be right back.”

He comes back two minutes later with two cartoon packs of beer and a huge smile on his face.

“Are you planning on drinking all of that?”

“Not by myself. Both of us would be a wiser option. I don’t wanna end up at the hospital.”

“I’m not really a beer person.” She hadn’t been an alcohol person in the last few years.

“Well, Gwen, tonight you are.”

And she is. They share two glass bottles of Corona as Blake continues his tour around the city. When she’s about to open a third round when he stops her. “Save it for later.“

“Why?” She can feel the alcohol in her system already, surely because she hadn’t drank in so long.

“I’m going to try to get us inside the Opry.”

“Opry?”

“You have to know what the Grand Ole Opry is!”

“I do know.”

“Okay Nashville expert.” He winks at her and then pulls over and parks outside the building with the words Grand Ole Opry staring back at her. “Now, I’m going to try charm the security guy, you stay here.”

She nods at him and leans against the car as she watches him walk towards the entrance. She tries to read his lips as he talks but she doesn’t get any information until he comes back without a victory sign.

“Not charming enough?” She teases him just a little.

“Apparently so. Not even dropping my name twice worked.” Blake shakes his head incredulously.

“That’s okay.”

“He did say we could come back tomorrow if you’re still-“

“I’m going back to LA.” He looks upset that their time together is coming to an end, and she kind of wants to come up with whatever excuse to stay a little longer because there is nothing for her in LA until Wednesday.

“Well, uhm, next time?”

“Next time, yeah.”

An awkward silence takes over them as they stand face to face in the Nashville night. “Why am I even a member of the Opry if I can’t get in whenever I want?”

“That’s fine, Blake. You tried.” Her hand involuntary reaches up to touch on his upper arm which he finds comforting so he covers her petite hand with his as if it where the most normal thing in the world. His eyes shift to hers as she presses her lips together and holds his gaze for a few seconds that seem like a lifetime.

Why and how is he making her feel young and carefree again? She needs to get it together. “So,” she tries to cut the tension by speaking at the same time he begins to speak as well.

“Who broke your heart?”

_ Oh _ .

She really wasn’t expecting this question at all, and to be honest, she doesn’t want to go there, but something about Blake screams that he will understand that that he won’t judge her.

“My hu- ex husband.” She looks away from his eyes and reaches out for the handle to open the door. “I don’t want to-“

“Talk about it. I understand.”

“Thank you.”

She gets inside the car leaving Blake outside the night air by himself for a couple of seconds before he walks to his side and gets his hands on the wheel. “I’m sorry for asking.” He says staring at the Opry building through the glass.

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. I apologize for making you uncomfortable.”

“It’s hard to talk about it.”

“I know.”

“I think that you’d understand like nobody else, but we just met and I-“

“Do you want to head back?” He asks trying to change the subject.

She looks up at him surprised, “If you want to.”

“What do  _ you _ want?” She feels like he’s asking further more that just her will to go back to the hotel.

“I didn’t want to come here. I didn’t know what the CMAs where until last month.” She begins in a low tone, “My manager said that it would be a great event to step out in the open after the-” She tears her eyes away from him for a moment and takes a small breath, “Divorce.” Blake’s eyes widen while Gwen sighs loudly, “Yeah, I- I recently got divorced as well. My manager said I needed to get back to the real world since I have a single coming out in a few weeks and the CMA looked like the right place to do that, an event where I wouldn’t get much attention because I’m not a country singer.” She thinks that this would give him the perfect opportunity to drop one of his jokes, but when she looks up to him kind of waiting for his funny, and always welcome, comment to drop he finds him engaged in the story. “But then Tim welcomed me with open arms and I honestly had a great time learning the lyrics and setting everything up with him. I felt like part of something great, something important for me in such a long time-“ She breathes out almost in an exhausted tone that has Blake wanting to reach out for her.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t welcoming when I took over.” His apology floats in the air for a few seconds until she registers his words and shakes her head.

“Honestly, Blake?” He widens his eyes and waits for her truth to hit him, he can take it. Maybe he can’t. “I just had to understand you. I judged too fast this morning and you know how sorry I am for that.” She lets her side lean against the car door and then shifts her gaze away from him for a few seconds.

“You’re such a good performer, you know that right? I feel like learnt a lot just by watching you this morning. I’m so used to singing alone and doing things my way, that I forgot how to collaborate.” She has forgotten how to react to compliments, but the blood in her veins warms at his words and she feels a sense of pride take over her. “You handled everything like a rockstar.”

Now she’s blushing, “Stop.” She giggles out hiding her face as she tilts her head down.

“Why?” He sounds gentle and actually concerned. “Never feel ashamed of your accomplishments, Gwen Stefani.” Her name rolls out of his tone to exemplify how much she really gas accomplished.

Slowly, she turns her body around to look at him as a smile grows on her face, “Thank you.”

  
  


At the fourth beer Blake starts to feel the alcohol in his system so he decides to drive back to the hotel where he parks the car in the parking. Gwen’s fourth beer goes down her throat smoothly, like water on a sunny day. She’s smiling brightly and maybe staring at him a little too long but she doesn’t care and Blake does not seem to mind either. As they make their way to the elevator she stumbles and he catches her before she has time to feel em embarrassed by her kid-like walking.

“It’s been a while since I drank this much.” She giggles against his clothed arm as his hands frame her body to keep her standing. “This was a bad idea.”

“Oh, no,” he says rubbing upper arm, taking advantage of having her so close, “I really think this was a genius idea.“

She follows him without asking questions and soon enough they’re standing looking at an empty hotel corridor. She blinks up at him and then takes a step forward, “where are you going?” He asks laughing at how adorable she looks wandering down the corridor.

“Don’t know.”

“This is my floor. If you want to keep this party going, my terrace has amazing views.”

“Does that line work for you?” She teases and immediately regrets it when she watches his face change. “Sorry. I didn’t-, I should stop talking.”

“Gwen, wait up.” He says exiting the elevator to walk up to her, who’s halfway to the end of the corridor, where his room is.

She ignores him, just keeps walking until she is faces with a white door at the end of the corridor and an exit door that shouldn’t be opened on the right. “Don’t.” He says when he sees her head stare at the door on the right. “Come on, just go into my room and you can relax on the sofa for a bit.” She shifts her gaze to his as she draws a soft smile on her face when he sees the worry on his eyes.

“Okay.”

Walking inside his room feels like entering a small flat. She looks around when he opens the lights to come face to face with one of those pretty big hotel suites. He seems to be pretty organized, everything is clean and in place. She spots some boxes by a door and two guitars on their respective cases, by the window. Two framed photos by the entry and even a small bowl to put the keys in. He might live in a hotel but he has made sure to make it look like a home.

“You really do live here.” She leaves the words hanging in the air and waits for him to pick them up. He doesn’t speak, just comes to stand by her side and nods twice. “How long?”

This might feel like a home but it also feels lonely. Again, he keeps silent and just brings up two fingers. “Months?” He shakes his head, “weeks.” She says next and he nods. Her eyes stay on his side profile for a while because he doesn’t seem to mind that she’s watching him, she’s not starring, she’s just trying to read him. “Why?”

“Why what?”

He still won’t look her way.

“Why do you live here?”

He sighs loudly and the takes two steps forward and runs a hand through his hair. “This feels like an airport. A neutral space. Nashville and Oklahoma hurt, this place not so much.”

She nods because she understand, she would have loved to have her own little airport — neutral space — to run to.

“I lived with Luke for two weeks but as much as I am grateful for him, I had to watch him be happy and in love with his wife and that was too much. I couldn’t handle it.” She totally knows how that feels and she hadn’t needed to go as far as a friend, watching her brother and his wife slash her best friend be happy and in love was hard enough. “Sometimes I just want to evaporate.”

“Don’t go there.” She shakes her taking two step forward to meet him. She tilts her head up to meet his eyes but he immediately avoids her gaze. “Blake?” 

_ Nothing. _

“It’s not worth it.” She says quietly. “I know the feeling. I’ve been there and living is worth it, maybe you don’t see it now but you will.” 

“Give me one good reason?” 

She looks away from him for a moment and looks at the window to see part of the city of Nashville in front of her. She brings her eyes back to him and speaks, “You said it yourself. This is an airport, a place that has planes that take you other places away from here. Maybe you just have to find that plane. That  _ why _ ,  _ what- _ even  _ who _ , to fly you out of this misery and to somewhere that will not hurt, somewhere worth living.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to give this story up because I didn't know how to continue but the right song came on shuffle the other day and it made me want to continue. 
> 
> Check it out: You Got Me - Gavin DeGraw

**Author's Note:**

> So... Thoughts?


End file.
